The Fourth of July weekend is officially here, and that means last-minute getaways. Here are some of the top hotels I’ve stayed at in various part of the United States. TEN GREAT PLACES TO STAY IN THE U.S. New York City: The Conrad by Hilton in downtown New York is a former Embassy Suites, so you can expect super-large rooms and luxurious touches worth of the Conrad designation. The on-site restaurant, Atrio Wine Bar, is terrific, and the rooftop Loopy Doopy Bar is a fun spot for a cocktail. Lower New York is filled with cool architecture and great shopping. Read more
Scottsdale
Top places around the world to visit this year includes the Canadian Rockies, southern Ontario, Western Australia, New Zealand, Italy and Argentina. I also have news on new flights from Canada to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a report on Arizona tourism seeking Canadian visits, and a new kids’ zone at the Chelsea Hotel Toronto. TIME OUT TOP WORLD PLACES FOR 2026 Time Out magazine recently came out with its list of best places in the world to visit this year. It’s an interesting list with a nice mix of well-known and probably unheard of places for some travel fans. Here’s Read more
I always knew I was ahead of my time. Okay, all joking aside, I was happy to read in Travel + Leisure magazine that a poll of 2,000 U.S. travellers found that Maui is the most romantic place on earth. The magazine said that FunJet Vacations recently released the findings of a poll it conducted with Talker Research looking into the most romantic destinations in the world. After polling 2,000 “general population Americans” to find out their preferred spots for romance, it turned out that Maui led the way, with 34% of respondents naming it the most romantic destination in Read more
Cue the sad violin: it’s about time to bid summer adieu. The folks at KAYAK say that you can still leave town for Labour Day Weekend for $429 or less. So here are some ideas. First up: KAYAK’s Trendiest Searches. Folks are eyeing these destinations more than usual this Labour Day weekend. Orlando, Florida (59% more popular this year, with great food and fun neighborhoods to explore, such as Mills 50) Fort Lauderdale, Florida (33% more popular this year, and another fab food city with great beaches ) Edinburgh, Scotland (27% more popular this year, and one of the world’s Read more
Five inches of rain in Toronto this morning has me thinking that maybe instead of cool-weather vacations, which I mentioned in this space yesterday, it’s time to look at dry-weather destinations. I don’t normally dream of the desert in summer, but maybe it’s time to look at places where you’re vacation is unlikely to require a heavy-duty umbrella and thick, rubber rain boots. With that in mind, here are some great, dry (not in an alcohol availability sense) vacation places you could think of. The Atacama Desert, Chile There was a pretty good rain here a few years ago, but Read more
